A Whole New Meaning To The Term 'Doing Business'
by samuraichikx
Summary: Jack/Liz. Jack and Liz release some repressed Christmas feelings.


Now, normally Liz wouldn't be caught dead in any sort of social event. She much prefers to lay in bed with a fresh box of (or microwaved) donuts watching Star Wars in her bed. This, though, was a special occasion. By that she means, her parents were unwilling to host Christmas again this year so she had, against her better judgment decided to attend the TGS Christmas party in the studio. Everyone seemed to be in the spirit of the season or, they wanted to give Cerie and her friends a chance to dress up like slutty elves. Either way, free food.

What she wasn't able to explain was how she had managed to become buzzed so fast. She wasn't much of a drinker, unless it pertained to not getting a call back from the board of advisors for that apartment she wanted, but that's another story. Besides, there weren't many phones on the TGS stage, she would be okay.

Although, come to think of it, she vaguely remembers Jenna urging her to try her favorite brandy: 'The Spirit of Christmas' just to try and loosen her up before the party. It had been disgusting, but had significantly calmed her nerves. Had she really consumed that much of it though? Wait, there had been a waiter, she had ordered a Manhattan. When asked for the bourbon she just said "Surprise me", and ran off to the snack table. Then there was the eggnog, which she had drunk a considerable amount of, because for whatever reason whenever she drank more of it she was more thirsty afterward. Damn it, she smacked herself, there's rum in eggnog. No matter, at least now she had a legitimate reason as to why she was being so flirtatious with the bartender.

She finished her second plate of shrimp and looked up from her glass of eggnog, momentarily catching Jack's eye over at the poker table. They locked gazes for only a few seconds, but to her it felt like it was in slow motion. She could see the sparkle in his eye when he looked at her...or she was just beginning to see things. Damn that eggnog. He smiled briefly at her before returning to glance at his hand.

It struck her then just how much he had done for her, and vice-versa. From supporting her through her $4,000 ham napkin escapade to urging her to, in his own words 'get hers' through writing her book; and from her helping him through Valentines Day depression to her saving his skin at the 'Six Sigma Retreat'. They really just, need each other. She didn't see him in a romantic way, that would be too icky. A boss-employee relationship might...imply things, and she wasn't that sort of woman.

Still though, Liz thought as she looked down at herself. She had decided to wear a simple but seductive black dress for the occasion, the same one she had worn when she had arrived at Jack's apartment for his birthday party. There still wasn't any reason why she couldn't give him a proper thank you. She downed the rest of her eggnog and set the glass on the table with a flourish. Just what was it about alcohol that gave her such an air of confidence?

Liz neared the table just as Jack had finished winning yet another hand, making his growing pile of poker chips even larger. She approached Jack and touched him lightly on the shoulders, speaking right next to his ear.

"Jack, can I talk to you for a second?"

He turned his head slightly to glance at her "This had better be important, Lemon. I'm on a fantastic winning streak"

She ran her fingertips across his chest, briefly tugging at his tie on her way around him before whispering, "It is". The dealer gave her a strange look, and she surprised herself with her vixen-like demeanor. That damn eggnog.

Jack got up reluctantly, immediately following her behind the bleachers of the audience's seats to where nobody could see them. He caught up to her, pulling her by her upper arm to face her.

"Lemon, are you drunk?"

"Of course not. Well okay maybe a little buzzed, but otherwise I'm fine" she smiled, slightly stumbling in her place.

"So, what is it you wanted to say that so demanded such privacy?" he asked, slightly annoyed yet slightly intrigued by this new Lemon he hadn't seen before.

She wasn't sure, but at that moment something snapped inside her. She blamed the eggnog, or maybe it was the electricity in his touch that made her brain short circuit. She suddenly grabbed him by his the lapels of his jacket and pulling him down for a small but tender kiss. He didn't respond, leaving his hands at his sides. She pulled away and immediately let go, feeling the red hot heat of embarrassment searing her cheeks. Or was it the eggnog again? Damn it!

She looked at him briefly before dropping her gaze and walking away slowly, covering her face in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I know, nothing like this would ever happen normally. It's just the party, and all the excitement, the stress of the holidays." she pulled her hand away from her face and looked at him, defeated, not noticing the new fire in his eyes. "I guess I just snapped. I'm s-"

He surprised her then by capturing her lips with his own, causing Liz to back sharply against a nearby wall, dragging Jack by his tie, slowly moving her hands from his chest to his shoulders to his hair. She felt his hands move from cupping her face, down to her waist. When they arrived at the hem of her dress she stopped him, her breath coming out his hot gasps as Jack covered her exposed throat with kisses.

"Jack wait...wait"

"What's wrong?" he asked in his low, raspy voice. Which she had to admit was really sexy right now, or was it the eggnog?. He sighed pulled his head back to face her "Lemon, if you don't intend to follow through, then stop teasing."

"Not _here. _Are you kidding me? There's people."

As if to emphasize her point, Tracy emerged from in front of the bleachers with his arms around two of the TGS dancers, Grizz and Dotcom trailing behind him. "Hey Liz Lemon, Jackie-D! Didn't know anyone was out here. We're on our way to the after-after party, it's gonna be bigger than Jesus in Suburbia!" he laughed obnoxiously and made his way out of the studio.

Jack and Liz stood there, confounded. "I don't even want to know what that means," Liz says

Jack looks back at her, unwilling to let this conversation go any longer "My place or yours?"

Liz looked back up at him, the fire again alight in her eyes. She played with his tied a little and said, in a fox-like voice she never knew she had inside her "Well, seeing as I eat in mine, how about yours?"

She circled around him and began to high-tail it toward the exit. He quickly followed suit, placing his hand on her lower back.

She had now been waiting outside Studio 6H for twenty minutes. She had wanted to take a Taxi while Jack insisted on waiting for his driver, wanting to carry out his own personal boycott of the New York City Taxi Service ever since his bedbug debacle.

"That was one guy Jack, jeeze." She had said, shivering in the cold December weather.

"Nevertheless, one small rebellion always counts for something. Come on Lemon, I would have thought you of all people with your hippie, liberal ideology would be on board with something like this."

She glared daggers at him, now desperately wanting to call the whole thing off. But as soon as he had taken off his tuxedo jacket and draped it over her shoulders, her anger had dissipated as she drown in his scent.

"Maybe he's at a party or something, it _is_ Christmas Eve." she said half-heartedly.

Sensing her discomfort, he wrapped his arms around her, began planting kisses down her neck. "Believe me Lemon, this is worth the wait,". Then, as if on cue, his driver pulled up.

"Oh you're good," she says as he pulls her inside.

The extended makeout session continues in the car with her straddling Jack's lap. During this time she has almost successfully removed his bowtie, but is stopped when the car stops suddenly, causing her to bump her head on the roof of the car.

"Son of a...MOTHER!" she yells, rubbing her head while she grimaced at the pain.

They hear the driver over the intercom "Sorry Mr. Donaghy. Traffic isn't looking too good. We're almost there."

Liz slides into a defeated position next to Jack. He tries to supress a laugh, but doesn't do so very well. He puts an arm around her, smiling. "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah fine, I'm just great" she shoots back, crossing her arms in frustration, and looking out the window.

He didn't want to mention that she had wanted to wait until they got to his apartment to start again, but rather admired her aggressiveness. He blamed the eggnog.

They sit in silence for the rest of the way. When they get to Jack's building, Jack picks up his jacket from the floor and puts it on, proceeding to extend a hand to Liz, who takes it exhaustingly.

In the elevator, they stand at the back with their arms behind them. To Liz, this is vaguely reminiscent of the time that she had to drag Jack out of Kathy's then-office before Devon had come back. She smiles, remembering Jack emanating the scent of Kathy's lip gloss so he could be her 'fancy boy'. She remembers several of their other antics. Her frustration is quelled once again by the mere memory of the past four years, nothing with Jack ever seemed to go according to plan, why should it start now?

She looks over at him, and much to his surprise slips her hand into his. She walks toward the hallway as the elevator doors open, pulling him toward her in a small kiss. He deepens the kiss by opening his lips on hers, and pinning her against the nearest wall.

He now took the fact that they were at his place as a green light to continue. He traced her jawline with kisses as he finds the zipper on the back of her dress and begins to draw it downward. She proceeds to take off his bowtie, successfully and throw it to the floor, now sliding his jacket off. But before she can his hands move down to her thighs, proceeding to pick her up, with enough of the dress off to expose a fair amount of cleavage.

She had never expected this to happen. Never expected to fall so hard for her domineering, ever present boss. The same boss whom had succeeded in setting an all-time record for least amount of time needed to despise a person at first glance. Now, moving so far from their professional relationship, they had given in to the sexual tension both of them had tried to suppress for so long. Now, making out like horny teenagers in his apartment, leaving a trail of clothes to his bedroom.

But now was not the time to think. Now they could give in to that long-suppressed tension that had been building for so long between them. It wasn't too 'icky' as Liz has so said before when Jenna had hinted at it. It wasn't awkward, it just felt, right.

He sets her down on the bed, half-leaning on her half-leaning over her, and he kisses her from head to foot, and she finally gives in.

She blames the eggnog.

***

Liz wakes up sometime in the late morning, sprawled out across one half of the gigantic bed feeling the bright sunlight hitting her in the face. Her head throbs with a painful reminder of the mass of consumed eggnog from the previous night. She groans, rolling over in the bed, just now realizing that Jack isn't in the bed with her, and more importantly: she's completely naked. Liz sits up straight abruptly, the memories of last night a swirling vortex of the party, hot sweaty bodies and of course, that damn eggnog.

She searches frantically around the room for something she could put on, finally settling for Jack's dress shirt, having been discarded at the foot of the bed the night before. It was strange, she was aware that she had slept with her boss, but it almost felt like a relief. Like some repressed feelings had finally been released, she felt...rejuvenated.

She attempts to climb out of the bed, but her legs as well as her brain betray her and she comes tumbling down on the hardwood floors. Quickly deciding that walking around wouldn't be the best idea, Liz clumsily climbs back into bed, shielding herself from the sunlight penetrating the window.

"Good morning Lemon," says an oddly cheerful Jack as he walks in holding a steaming cup of coffee. In response, he merely gets a muffled groan, as Liz attempts to shield herself under the covers.

"I've brought you a cup of coffee, if it will help," says Jack as he gently touches her side.

All he hears is another muffled response. He smirks "Sorry, didn't catch that,"

Liz slowly sits up, shielding her eyes as she attempts to adjust to the light.

"I said someone's in a chipper mood-" she looks up and down at him, eying his clothing suspiciously. He's wearing a dark blue dress shirt and a pair of jeans, (See picture below)very unlike the Jack Donaghy she knows, "What are you wearing?!"

He looks down at his outfit. "What this? They're my Casual Saturday clothes."

"Is that a thing? I didn't even know you owned a pair of jeans."

He laughs "I can assure you Lemon, Casual Saturday is a very real thing. I'm not surprised you don't know about it, seeing as every Saturday must be casual for you.

She shrugs, used to the backhanded compliments after four years. "So why _are _you in such a good mood. Aren't you suffering from the same hangover I am?"

He sits on the edge of the bed, staring out of the window "Actually, Lemon. I didn't have anything to drink last night. That was all you, and I must say, I'm quite proud of your...aggressiveness."

She cringes at first, partly at the heat of the coffee, partly at the fact that he used the word 'aggressive' in a sexual context. But then lightens up, realizing: " Wait so, last night wasn't just a drunken mistake on our part?"

He looks her right in the eye, those big blue eyes mingling with the affection she has come so used to seeing. "I wouldn't think so, no. Last night was if anything a confirmation of something that I've been contemplating for quite awhile now."

She raises an eyebrow "Which is?"

He takes her hand, brushing his thumb over her hand affectionately. "We share, certain similarities. Both revolving around work and unable to keep our social lives in check because of said obsession. We share a stress-eating habit both of us know is bad for us. We are, without a doubt two of the more intelligent and more sane of the people working on your show." Liz quirks an eyebrow at those two reasons on his list, but decides to let him keep going. "My mother undoubtedly likes you, and it would be fantastic to take that form of attack away from her..." Liz hangs her head and slaps her free hand to her forehead, laughing to herself at this particular justifiable reason for them to become a couple.

"But _most_ importantly," he says, seeing her growing frustration, "In the last four years you've become more than a simple employee. Despite our differences we've developed a seemingly unbreakable friendship, something of which I've been unable to accomplish with many, if any, women."

She looks up at him, not knowing what to say. She was speechless. Not only had he completely surprised her with a true compliment this time, but managed to pinpoint exactly what had been on her mind for months, minus the thing about Colleen.

"Jack I..-"

"You don't have to answer right now. I should have refrained from telling you this while you are in this...condition." he waved a hand dismissively at her bed-head and her free hand attempting to soothe the throbbing headache. "Just, when you're ready...think about it."

She smiles and nods back at him.

"Now, seeing as I'm the only one capable of functioning a the moment, how about I make us breakfast?"

Liz perks up at the mere mention of food, her now growling stomach making itself aware to her. "Oooh, what's on the menu?"

He scoots up the edge of the bed, cups her face in his hand and playfully plucks at her lips with his own. "Pancakes..."

"You make that sound filthy Jack." she murmurs against him.

"It is..." he says in his light, raspy voice. He gives her a light kiss, and then proceeds into the kitchen to make breakfast.

She collapses on the giant pile of pillows and smiles to herself. Maybe the eggnog was a good thing.


End file.
